Smokeless powder and method of making same.



'20 the tong UN IT HARVEY w. WILEY,

ONAL SMOKELESS HIA, PENN TO INTERNATI or PHILADELP SMOKELES POWDER s POWDER AND METHOD SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 78

to ni*i'atedcellulose'for p which are safe'and effective depends, first,

f nitration of't second; on the solubility upon the degree oi whatever origin;

of the product in certain solvents and t and properties of the colloids pro- In addition to thes r is iised' isof great-importance, an

the colloid character duced. the powde the proper formation of ties at the desired mass must be taken into consideration. degree-win, say, 12.50 per cent. The propor- My invention relates to 'the' methods of setions given above are simply used for illustracuring a colloid of theproprtiesfabove mew tive purposes to show the conditions upon tioned with any esired percentage of n'itir'owliich these desired contents of nitrogen are 7 gen, and a description of the way in which secured. 1 I this is done follows; It is evident that in any given case the con It is well known that in the nitratingjof celtent of nitrogen should depend upon-the purlulose the theoretical conditions of nitration pose towhich the powder is to be applied. viz., the'replaicenie'nt of all the hydrogen pos Hence it often happens that for one purpose v.

3 sible in the cellulosegompound by the radical a powder of a ow content of nitrogen is de- NO; is rarely itE' e'ifer attained. \If such a comsirable, while for another a powder of a higher plete replacement could be secured in pure content-is preferred. My inventiongrelates cellulose, the percentage.oi', nitrdgen in the to the manufacture ofa powder of ariydesired compound would be 1(t145. In pointof fact, content of nitrogen to secure the purposes in the manufacture of smokeless powders the above mentioned. To this end Imake use of 'nitrated cellulose employed u'sually'has a nithe well-known facts of the selubility of nitrogen content varying between twelve an tftrated cellulose containing varying proporthirteen per cent. It is well known that it'll; tions of nitrogen in diiierent solvents. ,Eor, the content of nitrogen rises above thirteen" instance, it is well known that guncotton" 4 per cent;there isi'ormed what is known as that is, nitrated cellulose having so higtta a guncotton, which is practically'insoluble content of nitrogen that-it isinsolublenn etli;ei p in a mixture of ether-alcohol. If thefcontent alcohol is soluble in acetone, acetic ether,

of nitrogen falls below twelve lodions are formed, which, indeed are soluble,

but have far too small for practical purposes. inventors have been possible, some comp it mar concern: thatLHARvEYW.

ct of Columbia, useful I er and Metho of which the has shown I tli hness and'other properties center mind of nitrated cellulose Application filed may 29, 1902. Serial No.

WiLEY,acitiat Washinghave inventmprovements in ds of Manufacfollowing is a residing at the utility or reducing explosives tempts e cellulose 12.75 per e the form in which nitrate'ol pr permitting the. shapes and sizes an of the dried per cent.,-co

' solvents is .I'W l other -,han

content of 'nitrogen Hence theefiortsoi ed in securing, it"

SYLVANIA, A CORPORATION OF NEW having a content twelve and thirt time preserving hardness of the colloid produced by solution in an appropri to secure a proper am aware of the various methods which have to secure an given degree, s of nitrogen; lose containing different p gen together in such quantities as given content of certain propor collodion, prese of nitrogen in the residual mass to any given 4 benzol, nitro-ben colloid, however,

a powder 0 d, thosetor =which are known as Patented February 7, 1905. I 5

ED. STATES P TENT OFFICE.

OEW ASHINGTON, DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA, AOSSIGNOR AND DYNAMITE COMPANY, JERSEY.

OF MAKING- SAME.

1,926, dated February 7, 1965.

of nitrogen lying between centl and at the same een per toughness, and

the viscosity,

ate solvent which is necessary andefiective powder. I

other inventors to secure in the atitration of any 12.45 per cent. d, in mixing nitrated celluroportions' of nitroto' secure a nitrogen, as, for instance, centi; third, by dissolving out of oducts of a low. content of nitrogen tions of the lower forms of nt, so as to raise the contentv ay, for instance, secon other bodies The v by; most oi;--- tliese somewhat too hard and prittle'to r the best quality. Onthe' zol, and

formed the ms ot' nitrocellulose A llodion? are more or ately 4o powder containing almost the also, since for each them together. thus securinga' higher content tions dissolved in ether-alcohol. Thus in the simplest possible manner and most effective way I am able desired quality for any specific The smokeless powder made in the manner less completely soluble in mixtures of two parts of ether and one part of alcohol or other varying quantities of the splvents, I make I use of these diflerent reactions toward differ ent reagents for the purpose of securing a powder of any desired nitrogen content what'- ever and at the same time of a physical structure which is best for the purpose mentioned. It is evident that the more nitrogen introduced into a molecule of this kind the more oxygen" atom of' nitrogen introduced two atoms of oxygen are incorporated. In burning an ordinary smokeless powder which contains, say, 12.5 per cent, of nitrogen only there is not a sufiicien-t quantity of oxygen to completely oxidize the hydrogen and the carbon, and for this reason consider able quantities of carbon monoxid and free hydrogen are 'produced. 'It is evident that if any additional quantity of oxygen could be molecule a m 'e effective powder would be made, provided the physical state of the powder were not injured. To this end in my invention I take a highly-nitrated guncotton containing above thirteen .per cent. of nitrogen, in fact as high a degree of nitration as may be possible approaching the theoretical limit of 14.14 per cent, and dissolve this in acetone. As has before been pointed out, a colloid made of this alone would be too brittle for practical use, and hence in order to secure the requisite degree of plasticity and toughness in the colloid I dissolve a guncot ton of a lower degree of nitrat on-say below other smokeless powders in these and other resp'ectsnamely, it is not soluble in any-single solvent, either in form norin' a-mixture of ether and alcohol in i any proportions. @In'order to'dissolve a powder of this kind, small particles'successively with different solvents, separating thev insoluble portions by centrifugal action or otherwise and subjecting them to treatment with adifi'erentsolvent. For instance, powderfiof this kind would be partially soluble in ct cohol and more soluble in a mixture of ether and alcohol; but in all thesecases a considerable residue would remain undissolved, and to dissolve this residue it would be necessary to separate by centrifugal action or other wise and treat it with an'otherfsolvent, such as an acetone. By proceeding in this way it would be possible to bringit completely in solution.

ation the use of. acetone and a mixtureof ether and alcohol as the solvents employed, I .do not confine myself to those solvents, but to ;nitra ted cellulose in itsvariou's degrees of nitration.

I claunds- 1. The method of powder having a desireclpercentage-of-nit rogenwhich consistsin uloses having-known contents of-nicotton, one containing a very high percentage of nitrogen and the other moderlow percentage, and'I mix these twotogether in any desired proportions to secure, on the one hand, a very high content of nitrogen and, on the other, a moderate content of nitrogen. This I illustrate by the following examples. cellulose containing 13. gen and dissolve a given. In the second place I take containing 12.75 .per cent. of nitrogen and dissolve it in ether-alcohol. Now if I desire to make a' smokeless powder with a contentof I nitrogen of 13.25 .pe'r cent/I take equal porthus obtained in proportionsnecessary to tions of these two. viscous masses'and .mix -'form a powder .tent of nitrogen. v w I 3. A smokeless. powder having .a predebeg-mined content ofnitrogen in acolloidal form, insoluble in any single solvent or in-a mixture Icf' ether and alcohol .inany propor- .tion. 1

gained. in proportions necessary to :form a pow-' 2. The method of" producing 1 a smokeless powderhavingflfdesird percentage of nitrogen which consistsin separately dissolving nitrated celluloses, having known contents ofnitrogemand of=different solubility, in their appnepriate'solvents, and combining ,the solutes 75 per cent. of nitroweight of itin acetone.

of nitrogen than has everbefore been secured in a practical wayfwhile at the same timel have a colloid masswhich is tough and resist- 'ant'and has the valuable properties of the ordinary colloid made by dissolvingcollodion in ether-alcohol. It is evident that I may vary the proportions of the two constituents at will, and thus be'able, on: the one hand, to make a maximum content ofnitrogen found-=in the portions dis-' solved in acetone, and, on the other, almost th i i r-nritnnf. of nitro en of the por-' to this s pecification-inthe presence of twosu bscribingwitnesses.

' Witnesses. 'T' A. E. T. HANSMANN, W. CLABENOEDUVALL.

the non-colloidal or colloidal any solvents whatever which will dissolve the" to produce a powderof any above described differslin its propertie's'from it is necessary to treat the her and partially in al- 4 l While I have mentionedin the above speci- Having thus described my invention, what; W

producing a smokeless separately dissolving nitrogen and combining thesolutes th ns. ob- I having a predetermined content of ni-,

having a predetermined 'con- HARVEY w. w1 i.EY. v 

